My New Best Friend
by Gothic Turtle
Summary: After an unexpected act of kindness from Dash, he and Tucker soon become fairly good friends. However, Danny doesn't like it. And he REALLY doesn't like the way Dash has been ignoring him in favor of his friend. Slash. romance/humour/friendship/drama.
1. The Horror of Horror Movies

Right…RATING MAY GO UP CAN'T REALLY BE SURE AT THIS POINT! Phew.. got that out of the way…wait no, there are a few more warnings:

1) this my first time writing boy/boy.

2) This is my first Danny Phantom fanfic

3) This - like so many other fanfics out there - will ignore 'Phantom Planet'.

4) I NEED TO KNOW IF I'M KEEPING THE CHARACTERS IN CHARACTER! Seriously, I hate it when I read a Danny Phantom fanfic where the characters are either acting sickly sweet, Dash is acting like some evil-to-the-core bastard, or Danny suddenly seems to forget he's half ghost and is totally defenseless (UNLESS there is a reason he can't use his powers. Seriously, this teen is powerful, I can't see him not using his powers when he needs them most). I especially hate it when it's all three.

5) And lastly….I don't own Danny Phantom, thank goodness. Heaven forbid what would have happened to it if I did!

(*(*)*)

If one thing was to be said Dashiel Baxter, it was that He loved romance movies - adored them, collected them, renting every single new movie and/or remake of his all-time favorites…oh yes, Dash Baxter was a hopeless fan of movie romance.

Which was a major reason why he hated horror shows.

Unfortunately though, every last member of the football team was fan of the horror genre, though in Dash's eyes, the true horror laid with the actual genre itself. Honestly, more often than not, the main character got killed, and in an especially brutal and bloody (not to mention predictable) way. That never struck the young jock as surprising though - him and his team were the brutes of their school, the class bullies. Mindless violence was what they do, so it was no shocker that said bullies liked watching violence in movie form as well. Dash however, never seemed capable of understanding the attraction to it - thriller movies, maybe, as the best always got you seating on the edge of your seat. But honestly, what was the appeal of watching characters you liked getting slaughtered? For the blonde, the only red he liked to see in his films were love hearts as well as the knowledge that when the next scene shifted, it wouldn't be of one of the main characters getting hacked to pieces.

"Yo dude, we're nearly ready with the movie! Is the popcorn ready?"

Looking over his shoulder at his good friend Kwon, Dash could only nod his head reluctantly. Tonight was movie night, just like it had been every Friday night for the past few months. It had been a 'thing' one of his teammates suggested one day when they had trooped back to Dash's house after a long day of school and practice, exhausted and bored out of their skulls. Had Dash known that this 'thing' made exclusively for sports team members would carry on for so long, he would have voted against it, or at least insist they have it at someone else's house every week, instead of only his.

'Too late now,' he mentally groaned, pouring the finished microwave popcorn into a giant bowl. As things stood right then, Dash was stuck with almost every single member of every single sports team in Casper High in his home theatre once a week, raiding his fridge, and depleting him of any and all food supplies.

'Oh well, might as well pretend to enjoy it.' Not like he could have any of his so-called 'friends' guessing that he was into chick flicks in any case. In a way, it provided a good cover-up and helped him keep up appearances, if anything.

Setting the bowl down, Dash quickly moved out of the way before it could accidentally get bitten by grabby hands.. Hey, it's happened before.

Turning to his good - and possibly only true - friend Kwon, Dash tried to will himself to at least look like he wanted be there.

"So have you guys picked something out already?"

Quon nodded, holding up a copy of _SAW_ as if it were one of his football trophies. Plastering a fake grin on his face, Dash gave a half-hearted congratulations on such an 'awesome pick'.

The movie had barely even begun when the familiar sound of the doorbell chimed. Using this as a chance to escape, Dash …uh, _dashed_ out of the room to answer the door, silently hoping he could delay the visitor's departure for as long as possible.

When he saw just who exactly was standing in the middle of his doorway however, he nearly stumbled in surprise. Nearly.

"_Techno Geek_?! What do you think you're doing here? Scram!"

Tucker's eyes widened a bit. He had looked nervous as hell when Dash had opened the door, and Dash's reaction had opened increased that uneasy feeling.

"B-but your teammates s-said that if I-I don't come h-here at th-this time, they-they would beat me up every day for a month!"

Dash raised an eye brow. Why the hell would his teammates threaten the puny nerd to come here? Judging from the way shorter boy was eyeing his car out of the corner of his eye, he probably wanted to be there even less than Dash wanted to invite him inside.

Sadly, his mother would probably have a canary if she ever found out he had left visitor out in the autumn cold, especially when it looked ready to rain like now.

"Fine!" he snapped, causing Tucker jumped back a little. "Get in! But touch anything and you're dead meat!"

Tucker nodded quickly and step into the house behind Dash. With a growl Dash told him to stay put and not move except to breath. Tucker, slightly more intimidated by the jock than usual (what with being in the bully's own house), took those instructions to heart.

Dash walked back up to his awaiting teammates at a leisurely pace. He may not have liked how the Fenturd's sidekick had unexpectedly showed up on his doorstep, but he still liked horror movies even less.

"What the hell is Fentina's little nerd doing here?" he hissed at large group of teens. He had paused the movie the second he had stepped foot into the room, and now all eyes focused on a very pissed Dash Baxter. Not a good thing.

One boy - a freshman from the basketball team - grinned up at the blonde, oblivious to the frightened faces of his peers who had a great deal more experience with Dash's temper.

"I invited him! I heard the twerp saying that he didn't like horror movies, so I thought if me and some of the guys got him to come, we could watch the loser squirm and have a laugh. Good idea right?"

Dash resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had learnt the hard way that whenever a jock uttered the words 'I thought' or 'I think', things would not end well. And low and behold, he couldn't see a positive outcome for this new situation he had in his hands.

'Best just go with it,' he thought. After all, if no-one planned to beat on the poor loser, what was the worst they could do? Besides, at least he wouldn't have to suffer alone throughout the movie.

The rest of the night went on just as the jock predicted: with him being bored out of his skull from the movie while his friends cringed and pretended not to be even slightly shaken by the film's gory contents. The only twist to the night was Foley's presence. The four-eyed boy had curled himself into a trembling ball not too long after the movie had resumed, trying his hardest to shut out as much of what was on screen as possible. He didn't even notice the others in the room chucking popcorn, a variety of sweets, and an even larger variety of insults his way. Dash almost felt bad for him - almost, that is.

The short boy's lack of response lead to Dash's sporty peers to quickly get tired of trying to bother him. By the time the movie had ended, most of them seemed to have forgotten he was even there as they trooped out of the quarterback's house.

It wasn't until Dash had returned to his home cinema to clean up (yet another reason he hated movie night) did he realized that Foley still hadn't moved from the fetal position he had tucked himself into. Shifting nervously, Dash contemplated his options. He _could _leave the shorter teen alone, but then how long would he be here? What if he fell asleep and his parents returned from their trip tomorrow to find him and Tucker told them everything, even about being the school bully? They would not be pleased, not in the slightest. Dash shuddered as he thought of his mother's reaction to her son being a bully, and he didn't even want to _think_ of what his father would do to him.

No, letting the kid stay over was _definitely not_ an option.

That left only one solution.

Striding over to where the (still unmoving) be speckled boy was curled up. Shaking him roughly by the shoulder, Foley blinked up at the jock in surprise.

"I-I-Is it o-ov-over?"

Dash gave the boy a pitying look before pulling him out of seat.

"Yeah loser, and everyone else has gone home, so it's safe to leave."

Tucker gave a loud sigh of relief before making a run for the door. Like Dash, he didn't want to spend any more extra time in the blonde's company.

Hands on the front door's handle, he gave one last small, apprehensive smile to the taller teen before flinging the door open to - reveal a rainstorm. Oh what lucky day.

Inhaling, Tucker chanced a look at his fellow classmate, noting the look of surprise and annoyance written clearly across his face. Rubbing his neck nervously, he looked back outside as a new wave of rain poured down, splashing the Baxters' doorstep and slightly soaking Tucker's feet.

"Eh heh….looks like I'll have to run huh? Well then I guess - ACK!"

Tucker found the front door being slammed in his face, and then almost immediately being dragged by his collar into Dash's living room. He could swear his feet never touched the ground.

"Listen _loser_," he growled, face dangerously close to Tucker's for extra intimidation. "I'm _only_ letting you stay here so that I don't have to worry about word of this reaching my parents. In return, you don't tell _anyone_ at school about this. And you _especially_ don't say anything to my parents about school, got it _techno geek?"_

Tucker nodded vigorously. It was amazing really - he helped his best friend fight ghost on an almost daily basis without turning tail screaming, yet the same bully he had known for the better part of his life still managed to get him quaking in fear. And now, he was stuck in said bully's house for the night.

Exactly what did he do in a past life to deserve _this_?

On second thought, he probably didn't want to know. He had enough to deal with as it was.

Dash moved away from the smaller teen, and disappeared around the corner. Not too long after, he had reappeared with several blankets and pillows in hand.

Dumping the great mass of fabric onto him, Dash snorted a laugh as Tucker let out a yelp of surprise.

"This should be enough for sleeping on the couch. The bathroom is at the end of the hall and if you need me, my room is only other door there except for the broom closet. Oh, and you see that door to your right? That's my parents room. Don't go in there - not even I do. Seriously, they're messier than I am. If you wanna eat anything, good luck finding something. Well….see ya'" With that, Dash turned on his heel and marched into the room he had labeled as his.

It took a few moments for what had just happened to sink into Tucker's brain. Once reality finally caught up with him, it took a few more minutes of him debating whether or not he had been hallucinating. The fact that Dash Baxter - number one school bully and (prior to Danny getting his ghost powers) the main cause of their problems - was being _nice._

_Nice._

'What . The. Hell?' That was the main thought running through his brain. The others consisted mainly of Dash being possessed and/or him being sucked into an alternate reality. In other words, nonsense.

Shaking his head from side to side, he forced himself out of his trance and moved to make a bed on the couch.

'Well-', he thought. '- if this is an alternate reality, I might as well enjoy it. The Dash in my world would probably have locked me into a broom closet for the night.'

Lightening struck somewhere in the distance, illuminating the small living room through the glass double-doors leading out to the garden. Now, Tucker Foley was _not_ afraid of lightening - he had had too many ghost shooting plasma beams at his head for something as silly as lightening to be an issue. However, he _was_ afraid of horror movies, and as the thunder clapped down along with the lightening, it was all that was needed to make the boy jump out of his skin as scenes from 'SAW' flashed before his eyes.

A strangled yelp escaped his throat, and suddenly, the room looked far too dark for his liking. Every object now resembled some sort of deformed demon ready to pounce on him - or worse, one of Danny old ghostly foes coming to seek revenge.

Now _this was definitely why he hated horror movies._


	2. Deal of the Teddy Bear

Yup, this is the second chapter. Already. Can I just say I'm writing while watching Adventure Time (which I also don't own)? I'm starting to think I watch too many cartoon -.- BUT I SHALL KEEP WRITING!

I don't own Danny Phantom. Clearly. Wish I did though.

(*(*)*)

The door loudly creaked open ever so slowly, drawing Dash's attention away from the sports magazine he had been reading to catch the frightened face of one unlucky guest.

"h-hey D-D-Dash! I was j-just wondering i-if you would-wouldn't mind me eat-eating something af-after not having h-had d-din-dinner and all."

Dash looked at the computer genius like had completely lost it.

"Dude, I just told five minutes ago you could help yourself to whatever you could find. And what's with the stuttering? Scared of me are you Folely?" Dash smirked as he said the last sentence. The smirk was only widened as Tucker jumped as thunder struck none too far from Dash's window.

"NO DON'T KILL ME!"

Dash, being the bully that he was, didn't even try to stop himself from laughing out loud.

"Seriously techno geek? You live in the most haunted city in America and you're afraid of _thunder?_ Pfft, loser!"

Tucker opened his mouth to defend himself, only curl into a fetal position for a second time as a yet another round of thunder boomed. This time, Dash didn't laugh. He probably would have forced himself to, if his other jocks had been there, but in all honesty, he truly felt bad for the quivering mass of geek huddled up in his doorway. After all, he hadn't exactly been all helpful just letting the kid sit there and be mocked as he was forced to watch a movie that clearly terrified him.

With a reluctant sigh, he swung his legs off his bed and crouched down so that he was nearly the same level as Foley.

"Man, that movie really freaked you out huh?" A barely auditable mumble was his only reply.

Running his fingers through his hair, Dash tried to think of a way to relieve the situation (especially as he didn't want his parents coming home to find a traumatized loser in the middle of their house. Heaven knows he wouldn't hear the end of it). Then he remembered what his father had done when he himself had been trying to get over his fear of horror movies.

Standing up, he picked the smaller teen up by the back of his collar and dropped him onto his feet.

"Follow me before I change my mind!" he snapped over his shoulder. Tucker hesitated for second, before yet another clap of thunder had him scurrying after blonde.

Tucker followed Dash all the way back upstairs to his home cinema. He watched in curiosity as the tall jock made a beeline for the rack of assorted movie titles on the other side of the room, seeming to consider each one before tossing it carelessly to the side.

"Um, Dash, what….what are doing?"

Dash turned to face the smaller boy, several movies still in his hands.

"I'm putting on a different movie to help you get to sleep, so you won't bug me all night." Like hell he was going to admit he was once afraid of horror movies too. He would sooner kiss Fen-toad.

Tucker's eyebrows shot up. He shuffled over to where his classmate stood.

"Really? Well, do you have any sci-fi?"

Dash threw him a confused looked. "Sci-what?"

Tucker bit back a chuckle. "Science fiction, Dash. Science Fiction."

"Oh….no, I don't think so. Look for yourself. I actually don't know what a techno geek likes."

"_I _like science fiction."

Dash glared down at the boy who suddenly seemed to grown a spin out of nowhere.

"Well we don't _have _your stupid science fiction, so pick something else!" he growled.

Tucker shrunk back a bit, and resumed scanning the numerous movies genres available before picking one off the shelf with an amused smile.

"Oh I can tell you don't have any science fiction. Plenty of _romance _though. What this? 'Season One: Icky Icky Goo Goo Romance'? Seriously man?"

Dash froze for brief moment, before snatching the DVD case from the geek and throwing it back onto he shelf as though it was some kind of bomb set to explode if moved.

"Th-that's my….my cousin's! Yeah! For when she visits!"

Tucker's eyebrow rose further, threatening to disappear underneath his hat.

"Ri-ight. I believe you. And I bet those teddy bears I saw poking out of your closet are for 'when she visits' too huh?"

Dash froze for the second time that night, eyes wide with horror as he stared down at the (far too smug-looking) boy on his left.

'_Oh shit! He saw that?_' "I-I have no idea what you're talking about Foley."

Tucker just gave a small "Mm-hm, sure," and knowing smirk. Dash's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Listen _loser_, if dare-"

"-tell anyone you'll pummeled me to death so fast I won't know what hit me. I get it, I won't tell a soul. Literally."

Dash relaxed a bit, and resumed looking for a non-scary movie for them to watch.

"On one condition."

Dash nearly dropped everything he had been holding. _On one condition? _Was this loser going blackmail _him? _Him, _Dash Baxter?_ No,…_no_ he wouldn't dare!

"I won't tell anyone if you promise to leave me and my friends alone for rest of the school year."

So this was how it was gonna go down huh?

Dash calmly placed the movies he had been holding back, before facing the smaller boy with a look of pure rage.

"How about-" he hissed. "-you don't tell anyone, and I don't beat the snot out of you?"

The nerd did something only a handful of people ever dared to do, and even then would usually end up having to pick their teeth off the floor: he laughed right in his face.

"Please Dash! By the time you get round to that word would around the school, it'd be too late. Tell you what, I'll shorten the time down to Christmas, so you still have a half a year to make up for lost time. Deal?"

Dash growled. "I can beat you up right now and no-one will know"

Immediately Tucker's face dropped. He quickly swung back to face the shelves of movies, posture rigid and panic quickly setting in once again.

"Eh-heh…_so-o about this movie.. Which one did you want to watch again?"_

_Dash raised an eyebrow in amused at Tucker before speaking again._

"_A week."_

"_Huh?" Tucker blinked up at the blonde in confusion. "I don't see any movies called 'A Week' "_

_Dash held back the urge to smack the nerd over the head. Instead he gave Tucker a look that clearly told the other boy how stupid the blonde thought he was being. Coming from someone as dense as Dash, that meant a lot._

"_I mean I'll leave you and your loser friends alone for a week."_

_Tucker blinked again. "Oh. How about a month?"_

"_Two weeks."_

"_Deal. Shake on it."_

_Dash extended his hand for Tucker to take, shaking the poor boy's hand a little too roughly and making Foley's arm feel like it was about to ripped from it's socket. Rubbing his shoulder he gave the jock an apprehensive smile._

"_You sure have strong handshake….please never shake my hand again."_

_Dash just smirked. "Not my fault you're a wimp. Now have you finally decided or am I going to put on 'Friday Thirteenth'? _

_Tucker quickly shook his head, fear evident in his face._

"_NO! No I…ah….I'm nearly done."_

_Dash just gave a frustrated sigh and sat down in one of the recliner chairs._

"_Well hurry up! I haven't got all night!"_

_Tucker squeezed his eyes shut as he turned his back to Dash. Had he been imaging Dash being nice earlier? He must have been. The Dash he was talking to now was without the doubt the one he had grown up knowing and hating._

'_Just for tonight Tuck, you just need to survive tonight. Then, you get two whole, beautiful weeks bully-free. Just gotta remember that.'_

"_Oi! Techno geek! Make a decision already!"_

_Oh, he was definitely looking forward to those two weeks._

_(*(*)*)_

_I know I have introduced Danny or any other characters yet, but I will in the next chapter! I promise!_

_I'm out of cookies so reviewers will get brownies instead! : D_


	3. Oh What Weird Little Talks We're Having!

Thank you to my one reviewer: **NikaStarlight** and to those that have favorited/followed this story so far! Seriously, I've never gotten followers so fast before, so it definitely made me smile. J

Anyway, as I promised, Danny will appear in this chapter, though not for the first half. I had originally wanted to make this chapter shorter, but I want to try getting longer chapters in this story early on so as not to make all the chapter seem mismatched in length later on. I'll probably be aiming for 2,000/2,500

-3,000 words per chapter.

I really like Tucker-Dash friendship for reason. Funny enough I was a bit hesitant on writing chapter two, but found it surprisingly enjoyable to write. I enjoyed writing this chapter too, though I don't think it came out as great as I had hoped (then again, I'm never really completely satisfied with my work. :P The saying 'an artist's worst critic is themselves' seems to ring true for me).

I own nothing but the plot, the random oc's, and my new puppy Target.

(*(*)*)

The following Saturday morning had greeted Dash to a dark cinema and ache in his neck from having slept in an awkward angle. He'd clearly fallen asleep when he and the four-eyed loser had been watching whatever movie it was that the geek had picked out. A shame really. As much as Dash would never admit (out loud or even to himself for that matter), hanging out with techno geek hadn't been a total waste of time. They hadn't really talked all that much after Dash had put the movie on, except to point out something stupid (Dash), make a witty comment (Tucker), or discuss which actress was hotter (something they both, shockingly enough, agreed on). It was almost….fun.

As last night's events flashed through his mind, he looked over to his right where Foley had seated himself a good, safe distance away, only to find the space empty.

'Must of left when I sleeping,' he figured. 'Eh, no big deal. Saves me having to explain to my parents why he's here. I wonder what time it is?'

Standing up, he stretched his arms and neck, trying in vain to remove the dull ache that was still vaguely present. As he walked near the door, the smell of bacon and sound of voices chatting and laughing hit him.

'So they are home already? I must of slept in then.'

Dash made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs before he froze. Staring at the scene before him, couldn't help but think of what a bitch karma was for doing this to him. There, in plain view, sat one Tucker Foley laughing with his dad over some lame joke while his mother refilled their coffee mugs and piled bacon, eggs, and pancakes onto their plates. Hell, the loser looked like he _belonged_ there.

Mr. Baxter's eyes lit up when he saw his son standing there staring at him.

"Ah! Here comes sleeping beauty! Tucker told me you two were up all night watching movies."

Dash shook his head to get his brain functioning again, before slowly walking over to the breakfast like a doomed man walking towards his fate.

"Uh….yeah."

Mrs. Baxter simply shook her head at both of them as she set a plate down for her son.

"Honestly boys! You need your sleep! Staying up all night isn't good for your growth!" her husband simply rolled his eyes at her while Tucker shot Dash a subtle smile.

"Oh give them a break Sheila! They're seventeen! I'd be surprised if they have any growing left to do! Except for you Tucker my boy. You're a bit on the small side, no offense."

"_Martin!_ Don't be rude!"

Dash groaned and covered his face with hands. Tucker shot him a sympathetic smile, even if the blonde couldn't see it.

"It's ok Mr. Baxter and Mrs. Baxter, it's true. The good thing about being small though is that you fit into small places-"

Dash tensed. He wasn't going to tell his parents Dash shoved him and his in lockers for kicks, was he? Surely not after all those threats….

"-and run fast. And trust me, with all the ghosts coming into our school you have no idea how useful those two things are!"

Dash suppressed a sigh of relief and looked at his parents, trying his best not to make it look like he was watching for a reaction.

His dad nodded at Tucker's explanation, seemingly satisfied he hadn't hurt the boy's feelings. Mr. Baxter however, cocked her head at him.

"Oh, you know about the ghosts there? So I take it you're not new to Dash's school then? Strange, I've met all of Dash's friends, and I've certainly don't remember Dash ever inviting you over before. Ah, it's Tucker right?"

Tucker nodded his head, lancing subtly out of the corner of his eye to where Dash was watching him, muscles tense once again.

"Yup, and no, I'm not new. Me and Dash just never really talked before. He's cool though, doesn't mind that I'm a techno geek at all."

Mrs. Baxter smiled and beamed at her son, who had was all but devouring his breakfast at that point, much like his father.

"DASHIEL! MARTIN! Both of you! Don't eat like pigs in front of company!"

Both males gave the woman a sheepish look before chowing down again. Sheila just shook her head at the pair and turned back to face the guest in question.

"Tucker dear, have more. A growing boy needs a healthy breakfast."

"Oh leave him _alone _Sheila! The boy already has a mother to feed him I'm sure!" Martin groaned, turning to face his son. "Oh by the way son, Pooky won second place in the Dimmsdale Dog Show competition. Congrats."

Dash's head shot up to grin at his mother like he'd just won a million dollars. She just chuckled.

"Why don't you and Tucker take Pooky for a walk after breakfast?"

"Uh….I actually have some stuff planned for today. Um…is it okay if use your phone to call my mom? I need her to pick me up."

Mr. Baxter gave Tucker a hearty pat on the back (much to his pain and displeasure. The older man was almost as heavily built as his son).

"Don't worry about it! Tell you what, Dash isn't doing anything today! He'll happily drop you off! Right Dash-y boy?"

"I'd rather no-"

"See? Not a problem!"

Tucker gave the older blonde a nervous smile before turning back to his half-eaten breakfast. He couldn't work up the nerve to look Dash in the eye after that.

(*(*)*)

"My parents like you."

"Oh….that's good, I guess." Tucker still refused to meet the blonde's eyes, choosing instead to watch the changing scenes from his passenger seat window. Dash was driving him back to his house, just as his father had promised. That wasn't annoyed the jock though. No, what was getting to him was the fact ever since he father volunteered him to do so Foley had been avoiding looking directly at him like he was some feral dog ready to snap his face off if he did.

Dash sighed veered off to the left, causing his sat-nav to go haywire trying to re-route their course.

Tucker's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Wh-what are you doing? Where are we going?"

Dash glared at the smaller teen.

"Listen techno geek, I'm not gonna pound you, alright? So at least look at me when you're talking!"

Slowly - far, _far_ too slowly in Dash's opinion - Tucker turned to fully face his bully of…well, forever really.

"Seriously? You're not mad at me that you're dad made you do this?"

If Dash hadn't been driving, he'd have reached over and smacked the boy outside his head, regardless of what he'd just said.

"Well _duh _Foley! I owe you one! Not only didn't you rat me out to my parents, but they actually _like_ you! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get them like one of my friends?"

Tucker shook his head. Dash's parents looked so friendly to him, he didn't think for a second they wouldn't approve of Dash's more popular 'friends'. Then again, he did only just meet them.

"My parents don't like _anybody_ from the popular crowd, not even Paulina! The only guy they don't mind spending the night is Kwan."

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Wait, if they let you have Kwan over, and they just met me, who spent the night without ever having met them before…."

"Yeah, I'm so grounded when I get home, so let's just drag out this whole 'dropping off' thing for as long as possible, okay?"

Foley nodded, eyebrows furrowed as he continued to think.

"But the movie nights-"

"My dad talked my mom into letting me do that every week. He's pretty cool when it comes my friends, but my mom….she's _evil, _I swear!"

The smaller teen bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the blonde's look of pure fear as he recalled times he had pissed his mother off.

"Good thing your mom likes me then. You make her sound like the personification of hell."

Dash shot him a confused look. "Per-what?"

Tucker rolled his eyes and fought back a smirk at the jock's show of stupidity.

"Nothing, never mind. Hey, if you're planning on using my as your excuse to not get grounded, can you at least take me home so I can shower and change first?"

"Sure, which way is it?"

"You have a sat-nav!"

"Yeah, and in case you haven't noticed, she's been spazzing out ever since I turn that wrong turn!"

Tucker looked at the tiny machine and, sure enough, it was re-routing them like crazy, switching from one possible route to the next like it couldn't decide which one was the right way to go.

"Man, you _really_ need to fix that thing."

Dash grunted. "Don't think I wouldn't if I could. Me and computers just don't mix."

"I could fix for you if you wanted."

The taller teen glanced at Foley from the corner of eye, briefly searching his face for some kind of give away that the smaller teen was trying to trick him, but found none.

"Sure, I guess. But don't expect me to pay you! That thing cost me a fortune!"

Foley gave the blonde a weak smile before turning back to stare out the window.

"Alright…if you add an extra week onto our deal."

The blonde nearly lost control of the wheel. He snapped his head round to face the geek, shock written clearly across his face. Quickly regaining control, he sent his best, most intimidating glare at the be speckled boy.

"You sneaky little fucker!"

"I thought it was sneaky little _techno geek?_"

(*(*)*)

"Tucker? Is that you? What - where have you been?"

Wow, he had barely even stepped out of Dash's car and already his two best (and only) friends were grilling him. The two had been walking down the street, presumably on their way to Tucker's house, when Dash's car pulled up outside it. What really shocked them though was sight of Tucker stepping out not only unharmed, but laughing of all things!

The dark skinned boy snapped round to where his two friends were standing, eyes wide and mouth open in a small, surprised 'o'.

'Quick Tuck, make something up!' Dash was still there, watching him for what he would say next. He had promised the blonde he wouldn't say anything to anyone, and whether or not he had been scared shitless about getting the stuffing beaten out of hi (which he had been, obviously), he couldn't just go against his own word. Of course, thinking up a believable excuse on the spot was far more difficult than it should have been for him, and the fact that he was just standing there like a fish out of water wasn't particularly helpful either.

"I-I-I um….asked him for a ride home!"

Sam and Danny exchanged a look of pure bafflement, before Danny spoke up.

"From where? It's only ten o'clock in the morning, and you're still in the same clothes you wore yesterday!"

"Am not! I wear the same thing every day, just like you guys!"

"No, because yesterday you spilt mustard down your front, and look - the stain's still there!" Danny pointed to Tucker's chest, where, sure enough, there was crusty yellow mustard stain going right down the middle. Opps. Maybe he shouldn't be so messy when he eats….

"Alright, alright, you got me guys! Truth is…I….don't have any clean clothes! Yeah! And I went to drop my laundry at the laundry mat half an hour away be-ecause…. my one is broken! And-and…. I ran into Dash and asked him to drive me back so I didn't have to walk!"

Sam and Danny exchanged another look, only this time, it was one of suspision.

"Oh really?" Sam asked, crossing her arms. "And Dash just agreed out of the goodness of his heart huh?"

Tucker twitched. Not in way that was particularly noticeable, but enough so that it would have been a dead give away of how nervous he was should someone look close enough. He glanced back at the blonde jock still parked in his car next to him. He was fiddling with his sat-nav in a sad attempt to not look like he was listening to every word Tucker said.

"Uh…no. He said that I….Have to do all of his homework due next week. So I can't go see that movie I've been bugging you guys about. I'm really sorry!"

Danny and Sam's expressions softened into ones of sympathy for a split second before Sam's hardened into a hateful glare direct at Dash. She stomped over to where Tucker was and bent down to look through the open passenger's window, all so that she could glare more easily her friends' bully. Dash mirrored the look right back at her.

"You just can't do a nice a thing without being a jerk about can you? You know Tucker was looking forward to that movie for weeks! And now he's missing out on it all being you're too dumb to do your stupid homework!"

"Go hug a tree Manson!"

Sam huffed and stood up straight, spinning on her heel so that she was fully facing her green-eyed friend. Placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder, an equally sympathetic smile was back on her face as she looked at him.

"Do you want any help Tuck? You probably have, like, a mountain of work to do now."

Tucker shook his head.

"Nah, you guys go ahead. I'm just gonna dumb Dash's answers down a bit, so it won't take as long as mine."

Danny and Sam still looked unsure. Taking a few steps closer to his two friends, Danny followed Sam's example at ignoring the still-glowering jock just next to them.

"Are you sure? I mean did I _did_ get up before noon just to go to this movie…"

"I'm sure man. Look, don't worry about me, take the day to do something you _actually_ wanted to do! It's not like you guys were looking forward to watching another sci-fi flick anyway."

The two teens hesitated for a minute. True, they had only agreed to going to see it for Tucker's sake, but it didn't mean they liked the idea of their friend giving up half of his weekend just because of their school bully. Then again, Tucker didn't really seem too upset about it - matter of fact, he pretty damn okay about the whole thing, so why should they get worked up over it?

Taking her hand off his shoulder, Sam gave the boy a quick hug and moved to walk back up the direction she come. Throwing Dash a brief glare, Danny soon followed suit.

Tucker breathed a sigh a of pure relief as he saw his friends retreat. Turning back to the jock now watching him with raised eyebrows, he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of annoyance towards the blonde for having to lie to his friends on his behalf.

"Thanks Dash! Not only did I just lie to Sam and Danny to cover for you, but I'm probably going to miss my movie now! Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to the premiere? It was going to be awesome!"

Dash just snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever! It you promise not to whine all day, I'll take you to see your stupid movie!"

This caught Tucker off guard. So much so, he nearly lost his balance despite simply standing.

"Wha…_why?_"

Dash shrugged. "Like I said earlier, all I got waiting for me at home is a grounding, so I'll take whatever excuse you've got to stay out."

Tucker blinked, recalling the conversation he and his bully had had about his parents. It made sense, in a way, Dash using him as an excuse to prolong the inevitable. Heck if had been him, he might just do the same. Frankly he wasn't looking forward to his parents questioning him on his whereabouts last night either.

Nodding his understanding, he asked the blonde to wait twenty minutes to get showered and changed, to which he told him had ten. Wordlessly, Tucker dashed inside his house, took what must have been the quickest shower of his life, and threw on the closest clean-looking clothes in closest.

Rushing back outside, he amused at the sight that greeted him. Dash was once again fidgeting with his sat-nav, only this time he seem to be genuinely trying to get it to work. The end result? One angry Dashiel Baxter shaking the thing roughly and shouting at to '_Just work already you stupid machine!'_

_Tucker couldn't help but think how weird his weekend had been so far - and that was coming from a boy whose best friend was half ghost._


End file.
